_________________"You can't be a Real Country unless you have a BEER and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a BEER." - FZ

Founding Misfits vocalist Glenn Danzig and bassist Jerry Only will get onstage together for the first time in more than 30 years at Riot Fest this fall, but despite decades of bitter, public legal drama, the latter says a reunion is not as far-fetched as it sounds. "We were never not friends," he tells Rolling Stone. "We were just adversaries. Larry Bird might not have liked Michael Jordan on the court, but when they go out to a bar they're cool."

The reunion, which includes longtime guitarist and Only's brother Doyle, stemmed from a legal meeting that Danzig had with Only and Misfits management in January. The pair have had a long history of lawsuits, over the rights to the band's name and merchandising, and they wanted to get on the same page before more litigation. "We went in there wanting to cut each other's throats," Only says. "It was turning into another court battle and it turned into a reunion. We walked out the door knowing we were going to play together. It's a very cool thing."

Only remains vague about the exact details of the meeting – who reached out to whom first ("Who gives a shit," he says) – but he says that everyone agreed that if a reunion were to happen, it should be when all of the members are "in their prime." Moreover, he says that all of his past arguments with Danzig have made him a better musician – they led to him becoming de facto frontman of the group in 2001. Because his skills are greater, he's excited for the singer to return.

"The man has vision," Only says of Danzig. "Where we go from here, let's make sure we get along first. 'Cause we're doing well both on our own. If we do it and it don't work, fuck it – we did it, man. But that's not the case. … I think we're going to get out there and back it up. And we're going to be the best band ever. That's my guess. It's going to be fun."

One thing that's for sure is that Only is carefully considering Danzig's side of the reunion. "I wouldn't have done it unless I thought Glenn was really about it," the bassist says. "I said, 'Look, I know every song, so you pick the songs and you pick the set. That way you got the best shot of giving your best show.' And we sat down and that happened pretty quick. We went through all the songs. We got 'Halloween,' 'Die Die My Darling,' no doubt, 'Last Caress,' boom boom boom. We picked out the songs and we came up with about 30 songs. We're still messing around with the order."

A drummer for the reunion has yet to be announced, though Only says they have one in mind who seems like a solid bet. "We're throwing names up on the board, and I just said this name out of the blue," he says. "And Glenn said that's my favorite drummer." The few hints the bassist will offer are that the drummer is a "family guy" who has lost positions in bands due to his commitment to his family. The bassist has a meeting scheduled with the drummer in June to begin rehearsing.

Next year will mark Misfits' 40th anniversary, but for now Only has his sights on the Riot Fest shows, the first of which will take place Labor Day weekend in Denver. The second – and only other date scheduled – will take place two weeks later in Chicago. "If we make it to the second show, I'm a happy fucking guy," Only says. "I'll guarantee you I'm keeping to myself, I'm going to do my job, I'm going to work out every day, I'm going to play. Glenn likes my manager, John [Cafiero], so if I keep John right there in the middle and make sure that me and Glenn both get what we want, then there's absolutely no problem. When you put two tigers in the cage, it's an issue. It took me 39 years to realize that." (Cafiero, on the line, later repeats that Only and Danzig enjoy each other's company.)

"When you put two tigers in the cage, it's an issue. It took me 39 years to realize that."

Although the future of the reunion has yet to be seen, Only remains committed to Misfits regardless. After reaching an agreement with Danzig to tour and record under the moniker in the mid-Nineties, the bassist has become the group's leader, singing and fronting various lineups of the group on tour. They've put out four full-lengths, two live albums, a comp and an EP since 1997. He's releasing another Misfits EP, Friday the 13th, today, which he fast-tracked to come out around the reunion announcement and titular bad-luck day. It features the most recent lineup of the group, which included his son, Jerry Caiafa Jr., on guitar. But despite all the acrimony with his former partner, he says his continuation of Misfits has been in deference to Danzig.

"He was like a big brother to me," Only says. "He showed me what the scene was about. I took it and ran."

Last week, the Misfits became the latest band to reunite its classic lineup for the festival circuit. Glenn Danzig, Jerry Only and Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein will perform together for the first time since 1983 at Riot Fest stops in Denver and Chicago this September.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Danzig sounded genuinely enthused to be back at it, even if the trio has had more than its share of disagreements in the past. Reconciliation helped bring them back together, but so did their own real-life mortality.

“David Bowie's death came out of the blue, as did Prince’s,” Danzig said, reflecting on the legends’ relatively premature deaths. “And I've said it before with Peter Steele and Dio: If you're a music fan, you think these artists will be here forever, but you should enjoy them while they're here, because you never know what will happen. You've got to enjoy it and let it happen before everybody dies."

Danzig is 60, Only is 57 and von Frankenstein is 51. The frontman stressed they’re all in good health. But when you’re the Misfits, you’re expected to be a little morbid (the story notes he said this with a laugh). In the end, they’ll give a new generation of fans a chance to see the Misfits as they were in their heyday, and if these dates go well, then who knows what will come next. A full-fledged tour? New music? It wouldn’t be fitting for the Misfits’ reunion to wrap before Halloween.

“David Bowie's death came out of the blue, as did Prince’s,” Danzig said, reflecting on the legends’ relatively premature deaths. “And I've said it before with Peter Steele and Dio: If you're a music fan, you think these artists will be here forever, but you should enjoy them while they're here, because you never know what will happen. You've got to enjoy it and let it happen before everybody dies."

Do something above the obvious ordinary rerun bullshit and I'll appreciate that you're here, Danzig. Meanwhile, Misfits were great for a few years about 35 years ago.

This whole rock legend/punk legend bullshit is so old. If you're a legend create something new. Look at Ahmad Jamal for example.

It finally, actually happened. Glenn Danzig reunited with Jerry Only and Doyle to reform the punk-rock Voltron known as the Misfits.

A ton of video footage has surfaced, which we've compiled below. Rolling Stone scribe Kory Grow was in attendance and filed an excellent recap of the set worth checking out, if you're into that sort of thing. The article features a lot of notes on Danzig's stage banter:

"About 40 years ago, Jerry and I got onstage in New York and we shocked the whole fucking punk scene who didn't know what the fuck to make of us," Danzig said at one point. "We didn't look like anybody. We didn't sound like anybody. We were angry, pissed-off and we dressed all in fucking black and we were always getting into fights and shitloads of fucking trouble every night. That's pretty much what punk was back then, getting fucked up and fucking people up. At least in New York City it was." Then they led a round of their ragged sing-along "Where Eagles Dare" as the audience bellowed its chorus, "I ain't no goddamn son of a bitch."

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